Mexico City's Airport, a Busy Crazy Place

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Overview

Looooooooooong corridor to the end ... Photo - Mexico City, Mexico

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Our airport has been plagued with problems for many years, with Mexico city being one of the largest in Earth, the need to travel by plane has been increasing year by year and the airport is in urgent need to grow or move. The second option was canceled by political pressure. Now, the option involves splitting part of the traffic to nearby Toluca airport. Today, the construction of a second terminal is almost finished and the old one has been subjected to major renovations and extensive surgery to modernize it's structure. Quick Tips: Lack of proper signs to direct you to your destination has been one of the major problems, so be aware and have a map of the airport before your arri...Read More

Our airport has been plagued with problems for many years, with Mexico city being one of the largest in Earth, the need to travel by plane has been increasing year by year and the airport is in urgent need to grow or move. The second option was canceled by political pressure. Now, the option involves splitting part of the traffic to nearby Toluca airport.

Today, the construction of a second terminal is almost finished and the old one has been subjected to major renovations and extensive surgery to modernize it's structure.

Quick Tips:

Lack of proper signs to direct you to your destination has been one of the major problems, so be aware and have a map of the airport before your arrival.
The western half of the airport is for domestic flights and the eastern one is for international ones. If you have connecting flights, be sure you have enough time and ask your airline for help as soon as you land, because the is no internal people-mover, though there will be when Terminal 2 is operating on the other side of the landing strips, and the distance is a long one. You may have to walk half a mile from one end to the other in the worst case.

Best Way To Get Around:

Once you arrive at the airport by air, you need to get to the baggage claim area, but first you should pass through immigration. There are different halls, M1 and M2, which depends if you are arriving from South and Central America or from the rest of the world. The "special" treatment at M1 is because of all the drug related issues.
After you clear immigration, you have to pick up your luggage and after that you have two options for your customs hall, but they depend solely on which carousel your luggage comes to.
If you don´t have a pre-arranged shuttle, then is better to only use the authorized taxis, there may be some guys that will offer you a cheaper ride, but beware they may have bad intentions. Just ignore them as you would with a drug dealer. Read Less

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Delicias Yucatecas

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Restaurant

Fresh and tasty Photo - Mexico City, Mexico

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From the choices available, this is the most Mexican you can get. The food is Yucatan style, which means that you will get cochinita pibil, which you must try.Like any fast food in an airport, the prices are a bit above the average for the food but, in this case, is not too bad. It is still affordable if you are traveling on a budget and, more importantly, is tasty and filling.I ordered the Salbutes with cochinita—you can order them with chicken pibil, but I wanted to try the pork first—and I was pleasantly surprised to get three well-sized fried tortillas with lots of toppings. In other places they just put a whisper of lettuce or avocado, here they are not shy and put proper rati...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on April 23, 2007

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Italianni's

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Restaurant | "Italiani's"

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This is a very popular chain of Italian food, just one warning: the portions are Huge as their motto is that food is to share.You will find this restaurant in the big malls and not surprisingly at the airport, where they don't share the common area, but a more discrete corridor, and yes, you can get a sidewalk table facing such corridor, ;) but you won't fight for a table at the food court common area as the restaurant is located a few steps further (towards the domestic area) and the service is regular as in any other restaurant of the chain, you will be seated by the hostess and a waiter would take your order, so plan your meal accordingly as that huge plate of lassagna won't arrive in 3 m...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 18, 2007

Italianni's
Calzada Desierto de los Leones 52-8
Mexico City, Mexico
+52 5 550 8266

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Pasteleria El Globo

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Restaurant

Small locale Photo - Pasteleria El Globo, Mexico City, Mexico

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This an old chain of French bakeries in Mexico, they have top notch pastries and cakes, and now they also serve coffee and sandwiches. This is a great option whether you are waiting for an arriving passenger or waiting to catch a plane. The bakery is located just outside the Domestic Arrivals area, below the respective food court. All kind of pastries from croissants to donuts, from cheesecake to thousand layers, and in top you also have great coffee and sandwich options for a larger snack. El Globo is considered expensive by the majority of the population with such prices as $1.50 for a cream puff and whole cakes for $15-30 but the quality is very reliable and you will enjoy the cake ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on July 18, 2007

Pasteleria El Globo
Mexico City Airport
Mexico City, Mexico

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Nutrisa

Restaurant

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NUTRISA is a national chain that sells health products from vitamins to soy meat, from yogurt ice cream cones to dietary aids. But they also offer sandwiches and fruit smoothies at the airport.If you are flying from Mexico city's airport T1 you will find Nutrisa after the security check point in front of the common tables area of the fast food area. Of course, you can opt for a quick burger at BB or McDonalds, or a drink at many of the overpriced bars, but if you want to eat healthy this is the option.Besides all the dietary aid pills and supplements, organic candies, etc. you will find that they sell yogurt ice cream cones, surimi or tuna sandwiches and fruit juices....Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on July 18, 2007

Nutrisa
Avenida Universidad, 1000
Mexico City, Mexico 03310
+52 5 6041963

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Immigration and Customs

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Story/Tip

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After your plane lands and you disembark, you need to find immigration. Follow the signs, but pay attention as there are two different halls, one is for flights arriving from the Caribbean, and Central and South America: M2. The other is for the rest of the world: M1.At immigration, you need to hand over the forms you got on the plane. There are giant examples on the hall if you have doubts. Passing immigration is easy if you have all your papers in order but it may be a lengthy process if there are many planes landing at the same time, as not all the booths work simultaneously.After you pass immigration, you have to find your carousel, but that part is easy as each one displays t...Read More

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Domestic Flights

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Story/Tip

Delicias Yucatecas Photo - Mexico City, Mexico

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The domestic area of each terminal are beehives because MEX is the airport that links the whole country, if you want to travel from Tijuana to Cancun, it's most likely that you will have to change planes in MEX. Routes are so crazy that if you want to fly from Veracruz to Villahermosa, both on the Gulf Coast, there are great chances that you have to pass through MEX! Totally insane.After that preamble, you will understand why this terminal is so congested and chaotic. T1 the original one.--You use this terminal to flight with Mexicana, Interjet, and some charter airlines.Recent changes in T1 had added a second level to the services area and a new funny-looking roo...Read More

The domestic area of each terminal are beehives because MEX is the airport that links the whole country, if you want to travel from Tijuana to Cancun, it's most likely that you will have to change planes in MEX. Routes are so crazy that if you want to fly from Veracruz to Villahermosa, both on the Gulf Coast, there are great chances that you have to pass through MEX! Totally insane.

After that preamble, you will understand why this terminal is so congested and chaotic.

T1 the original one.--
You use this terminal to flight with Mexicana, Interjet, and some charter airlines.
Recent changes in T1 had added a second level to the services area and a new funny-looking roof. The roof gives ample sunlight during the day and is illuminated with colored lights during the evenings, creating an interesting effect.
Unfortunately, they forgot to add a second level on the street side, so arrivals and departures could be separated like most of the airports worldwide.

Looking from the outside, arrivals area begins at Gate 1 and goes up to Gate 3. At the tip of the building are the authorized taxis, if you are new to Mexico city I strongly suggest you take these.
The subway station is very close, about a four-minute walk, but if you are carrying a big suitcase or huge backpack, the metro is not an option, neither is it if you are going to the Hotel Zone in Chapultepec or Downtown, as connections are not as smooth as they should be.

At the time of departure, you will be dropped between gates 4 and 7, just look at the name of your airline besides the gate number. Walking long distances with your huge suitcase and a couple of sombreros and bottles of tequila won't be easy.

As you would arrive with plenty of time to spare, you can grab an affordable bite in the food court above Domestic Arrivals. Or you can get past security and get a more expensive meal in the inner food court where you can opt between McDonalds or Burger King to Krispy Cream donuts, to healthy food and ice creams, or a stiff drink at any of the bars.

T2 the "modern" building.--
If you flight with Aeromexico or Aeromar you need to use T2, the newer building which is somehow better in terms of comfort and space, but the entrance by car is somehow a bit more complicated as you have to use a roundabout shared with the international area and limited unloading space. Once you unload the car head towards the Left entrance and you will find the counters for Aeromexico and Aeromar, in the middle of the hallway you can use the Aeromexico self serve kiosks if you are only flying with carry-on luggage, you can get your boarding pass and off you go to pass security.
The domestic area of T2 holds very few food options and those are certainly over priced, so plan on eating before taking your ground transportation or stopping at the outer fast food court before heading to security.

One last observation, the builders of T2 had a weird vision, the building's facades are just the very very thick walls with small round windows (not too different from a cupcakes rack), not enough Sun light gets inside, and the waiting areas are separated from the docking gates by a "security trench", in my opinion it looks like a modern jail. Read Less

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Taxis and shuttles

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Story/Tip

Zoom in of the touristic zone Photo - Mexico City, Mexico

Quote:

If you don't have a pre-arranged shuttle to your hotel, you should stick to the authorized taxis. They are more expensive than the ones you can catch on the street, but those are not allowed to pick passengers at the airport. And the guys that sneakily approach you and whisper in your ear if you need a taxi are illegally doing it and you are at risk of being robbed or worst, we call them "pirate taxis".Once you exit customs, look for the taxi booths. There are two companies competing for your favor, one company has large vans and suburbans, the other one, only sedans. Choose according to the number of people in your party or the amount of luggage you have with you. I´m attaching the most r...Read More

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Terminal 2

Story/Tip

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Updated info.T2 handles some of the airlines that are part of SkyTeam: Aeromexico, Continental, Delta and NorthWest so far, plus Aeromar, a regional airline.On the second level after you check in at the counter, you can spend some time at the fast food court which is to the Right side of the round about, just before the parking lot. Around the airport there are several convenience stores (7-eleven and Oxxo) for a quick snack at lower prices than the costly restaurants.There is a temporary museum showroom with interesting offerings. If you need banking services, there are several branches on the lower level.Finally the architects and authori...Read More

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Terminal 1 - Original Building

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Story/Tip

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The original terminal - T1 is a very long stretch of corridors, is like a Frankenstain building as it was being patched over the years to make additions and more additions to hold all the airlines and the huge traffic that pass through its gates everyday.When you arrive by car the first section you see is the domestic area, first the arrivals -Gates 1 through 3- and then departures -Gates 4 to 7- Look for the name of your airline as they are distributed along the building: Mexicana and it's filial company Click) followed by Aviacsa, Magnicharters, etc. After external Gate 8 the International section begins and here is like most international airports ground level for arrivals...Read More

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